St. Louis policeman dies from injuries sustained in crash with tractor trailer
Julius Moore, 23, an officer with the St. Louis Police Department, died Thursday evening from injuries sustained when his patrol car crashed into a tractor trailer last week.
According to a St. Louis Post Dispatch report, Moore had never regained consciousness after the crash and his family made the difficult decision to take him off life support.
The crash occurred last Tuesday when Moore’s patrol car hit a tractor trailer at the South Broadway and Arsenal intersection. Moore was responding to a call and had lights and sirens on while racing to the scene of a burglary. Moore was traveling southbound along with the tractor trailer when the truck driver attempted to make a right turn. The tractor trailer hit Moore’s car and forced it off the road and into a traffic light.
The truck driver was not injured in this St. Louis tractor trailer crash, according to the Post Dispatch. He has been cooperative with authorities and sources cited in the report don’t expect him to face any charges, though the investigation into this incident isn’t complete. An accident reconstruction team is still working on a report and will examine the vehicles’ speeds, debris patterns and computer simulations to determine the specifics of the crash. A full report probably won’t be done for up to 12 weeks.
Police officials have said that it is too early to assign fault to either Moore or the truck driver. Once the reconstruction team's report is finished we will know more, but at the moment, we don’t know how fast the vehicles were going or when Moore turned on his sirens. Many other details need to be fleshed out before liability can be determined.
By all accounts, Moore was a dedicated officer and he died from injuries sustained while performing his heroic duties. This is no doubt a hard time for the Moore family and the St. Louis Police Department.
This case, like most Missouri tractor trailer injury accidents, is very complicated. If you have been the victim of a tractor trailer crash, you should contact a St. Louis personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to learn your rights as the injured party. Keep in mind that any information you divulge prior to talking to a lawyer may be used to limit the payment you receive to cover medical expenses.
